Today's California in a Nutshell

California's revenues are below projections so $1 billion in cuts will be implemented.

Elsewhere in the state, Santa Clara, they have okay'd a construction loan of $850M to build a new 49er stadium.

Of course this is not exactly apples to applies but I think it highlights in at least some respect a message in our state; willing to pay for a new football stadium, not willing to continue state programs, including the loss of 7 days of school instruction.

 

Aren't there other examples of this throughout your parts of the country?

 

The state cut aid to our local school board from $800,000 to zero 2010 to 2011, but that didn't stop the Board of Ed from ordering $12,000 in championship rings for the high school football team even as it eliminated grade school instrumental music and cut a foreign language program. Football Nation!

 

By 2015 the entire American economy will be based on football.

 

It's getting so whenever I hear cuts, my first calls are to the athletic directors of our primary schools. But they keep finding ways to keep programs going. The basketball programs do a lot of fundraising, since some are headed to holiday tourneys in Vegas, Palm Springs and Orange County. If we weren't stretched to the max with early season winter sports and getting the all-county teams together, I'd assign someone to do a story ...

If you want the next Cali flustercluck, keep an eye on the high-speed rail project. The state's been trying to bigfoot a lot of agricultural interests to get phase 1 built in the southern San Joaquin Valley (Fresno-Bakersfield for those of you scoring at home) and local governments, which could use the boost construction would bring, are fighting back.